Recently, various electrical and electronic components are mounted on an automobile to improve reliability of components and provide a variety of conveniences to users. As such, since the electrical and electronic components have a lot of affirmative aspects, a portion which the electrical and electronic components account for in the automobile is increasing gradually. An electronic relay that is an electronic component exhibits excellent characteristics, such as high reliability, rapid response, miniaturization and compactness, and mechanical non-vibration, and thus will quickly replace a mechanical relay in the near future.
The electronic relay receives a control signal in the form of a direct current (DC) signal or a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal and outputs a switching control signal in the form of a direct current (DC) signal or a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for application to a load such as a motor. An electronic relay put on the market is implemented as a semiconductor switch in the form of an IC chip (hereafter, referred to as ‘semiconductor switch relay IC chip’).
The semiconductor switch relay IC chip available on the market entails a problem in that since the IC chip is typically implemented in the form of an integrated IC chip, it has a limitation in being mounted on various loads of a vehicle due to its actually low use current. The semiconductor switch relay IC chip implemented in the form an integrated IC chip must output a current of at least 20 A to 30 A in order to replace an existing mechanical relay that operates a load within a vehicle, but it has a limitation in operating a load such as a motor due to its actually low operating current. In addition, since such a semiconductor switch relay IC chip does not have a microcontroller unit (MCU) (hereinafter, referred to as ‘micom’) built therein, precise signal detection and various responses according to loads are difficult.
Therefore, in the case where an existing semiconductor switch relay IC chip is used to drive a load such as a motor included in a vehicle, a user suffers from an inconvenience of having to additionally install a separate driving circuit, leading to an increase in the manufacturing cost. Further, since the semiconductor switch relay IC chip does not have a micom built therein, it has a difficulty in controlling the operation and speed of the motor, detect current, and the like.
(Prior Art Patents) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0995485